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The Last Continent is another Discworld book, a wonderful series of books by Terry Pratchett that takes place on a Disc, on the backs of four elephants that are standing on a cosmic turtle that's hurtling through space. This one features another adventure of the wizard who's not very good at wizardry, Rincewind. One thing he's good at, though, is getting into trouble, and boy does he in this one!Rincewind is stranded in a dry, desolate place called XXXX (that's "ecks-ecks-ecks-ecks" to the locals). There is no rain. Instead, there is some water that you have to dig for. Unfortunately, that's starting to dry up too. Magic is going crazy on this continent, and Rincewind has been chosen to sort things out. Of course, as the kangaroo who gives him the job states, Rincewind already has sorted things out, so the kangaroo has no doubt that Rincewind will come around and accept the responsibility of sorting things out. Make sense? It doesn't to Rincewind either. He is forced to go on a journey around the continent (very obviously, it's supposed to be Australia, though supposedly Pratchett denies this) and falls into adventure after adventure. He's attacked by a drunken wombat, he discovers "Ecksians" can come up with new phrases (this actually seems to make Australian euphemisms make sense). He discovers an alternate group of wizards from another Unseen University, and accepts there help in his mission.Speaking of the Unseen University, a number of faculty wizards end up on a desert island after stepping through a window in the study of one of another faculty member. Unfortunately, that window gets closed, leaving them trapped on this island, ages in the past, with no way to get back home. What would a normal wizard do in this situation? Of course! They panic.Read more ›

Well, I don't know why everyone's going on about this book not being so good--unless they simply prefer the more "serious" or not so pop-culture-reference-laden books of the Discworld series. Me, call me cheap, but, as nice as some philosophy can be, I like the ones that make me LAUGH. And the Last Continent did that. BIG-time!In one plotline, we have Rincewind, who I liked from the moment I first read "The Colour of Magic" and have laughed myself silly at any book he's ever been in since. (Including the unpopular "Sourcery", which had me almost DYING with laughter, and even "Eric".) How can a character who's so _cowardly_ be so _likeable_? It defies logic on the surface of it, but, there you go! Terry Pratchett is the only author I've seen so far who can make the most pathetic losery _anti_-hero you can think of--and then genuinely make you cheer for him.Anyway, Rincewind's plotline involves him not only wandering all over "FourEcks" and running into a parody version of just about _every single famous Australian thing known to man_, but also a whole ton of just plain side-splitting jokes and scenes. I LOVED the whole "Priscilla" thing! Assuming that Rincewind was another drag-queen, with his "dress" (wizard robe), oh, gods...! I was so in stitches. And the Luggage in high heels even!The other plotline involves the wizards from Unseen University--but this time, they are OUT of the University! Big improvement! I guess I'm in the minority here, but when it comes to favourite "groups" of characters the wizards are TOPS for me, with the witches, Guards, "Death" family, etc. below them. I dunno. Maybe I just like eccentric whackazoid characters. (And HEX rules.Read more ›

How could people not think Rincewind is SO FUNNY? This is definately the funniest Discworld book, all the Rincewind ones are so funny, Terry Pratchett sould be arrested on the charge of making everyone's sides split. It's like a sequel to Interesting Times, when after the Wizards accidentally send him to Fourecks. Anyway, the Librarian is sick and Rincewind is the only person who knows his name so they can cure him. They end up on an island with a Creator who creates anything that seems convenient at the time. Rincewind is told by a talking kangaroo that he has to set things right in Fourecks, while the Wizards try to get to the continent. The Wizards have never been a funnier bunch of absent-minded old, fat men, especially the Senior Wrangler. Whenever Mrs. Whitlow appears, he's saying "Mwaaaaa..." There's refrences to drag queens, and the dangers of practically everything in Fourecks.Okay, so it's a little like Australia. Okay, it's a lot like Australia, but who doesn't like Australian jokes?Terry Pratchett's humor is just brilliant, and I have no idea how he came up with such a funny and absurd character like Rincewind.

Being Australian, I was a little worried that non-Australians might not get many of the Aussie-themed jokes and cultural references -- fortunately, this seems not to be the case. (Although, having met Terry at a book-signing for "Last Continent", he was at pains to find out if I had picked up all of the Oz-references, and was delighted that I had, so he obviously took a great deal of care and did much research for them).Last Continent is an interesting mix of Pratchett's usual style, with slightly more characters and slightly fewer clear plot points than normal. As a result, there is less of a "story" to follow but more fun people and more scope for one-liners. I found it slightly less enjoyable than, say, "Hogfather" (roughly of the order of "Jingo", which had more of a moral and political tinge to it) but still a very fun read.Readers new to Pratchett should probably read the other Rincewind books (particularly "Colour of Magic" and "Light Fantastic") to get a feel for the main characters, as knowledge of their personalities adds a great deal to the enjoyment of this book. Reading it cold would probably give a bit of a distorted feel for the series. And remember, if RIncewind is not your bag (baby), there's always the Guards series (my favourite -- try "Small Gods") or the witches (try "Equal Rites").